Category: India

Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel has announced that a dedicated fund will be constituted for people to contribute towards the development of his government’s ambitious Ram Van Gaman tourism circuit project. “Chhattisgarh is ‘nanihal‘ (maternal place) of Lord Ram. He had also spent most of his time in Chhattisgarh during his exile from Ayodhya,” Baghel said. “To keep the memories linked to Lord Ram and Mata Kashulayaa live, the state government has undertaken the Ram Van Gaman Tourism Circuit project and began its speedy implementation,” Baghel said. “In order to give an opportunity to the people of the state to ... Read more

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami has announced that from Monday, e-passes will be approved for anyone who needs it. At present e-passes can be applied only for important purposes like medical emergencies, deaths and weddings. However, the state government has said the relaxation applies only for those wanting e-passes for inter-district travel within Tamil Nadu, while for those coming in from other states and countries, the existing norms will continue to apply. The Chief Minister said that he has ordered the authorities to approve e-pass applications immediately for those who are applying with their phone numbers and details ... Read more

Around 50 Air India pilots have received termination letters and have sought the intervention of the management on the issue of “illegal termination” of pilots from service. The Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA), in a letter to Rajiv Bansal, Air India’s Chairman and Managing Director, said that around 50 pilots have received illegal termination letters from the Personnel Department in blatant violation of company’s operation manual and service rules. “What’s happening? Around 50 of our pilots have been terminated overnight unceremoniously without proper procedure being followed. A rude shock for those who served the nation in this pandemic putting the ... Read more

The Ladakh, Leh and Kargil regions will be developed and declared as a carbon neutral region, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in his Independence Day speech on Saturday. While the concept of carbon neutral villages have been looked at in India in the past and some villages in Kerala and Manipur have adopted it, this will be the first large region to be carbon neutral. “Just like Sikkim has positioned itself as an organic state, the Ladakh, Kargil and Leh region is moving in the direction of becoming carbon neutral. This will be achieved with participation from local people,” PM ... Read more

Virgin Atlantic has announced that it will resume its India operations, under the air bubble arrangement between the UK and Indian government. The carrier plans to operate three flights a week from Delhi to London Heathrow, starting from September 2, and four flights a week from Mumbai to London, September 17 onwards. Both the destinations will offer connections to New York JFK and will operate on 787-9 Dreamliner. Virgin Atlantic will operate temporarily from Terminal 2 at Heathrow. Alex McEwan, commercial manager India, Virgin Atlantic said, “This year marks 20 years of flying between the UK and India and we are ... Read more

The eco-tourism centres that were closed due to the coronavirus pandemic will start to function from August 19, the chief wildlife warden has said. The centres will be reopened in stages, following strict safety protocol. With the closure of the ecotourism centres, people who were dependent on forest resources had lost their livelihoods. This had affected about 2,000 people directly and 7,000 indirectly, said the warden, prompting the authorities to reopen the eco-tourism centres. In the first stage of reopening, children below 10 years and adults above 65 years will not be allowed. Temperature checks will be conducted for all ... Read more

Vinay Dube has been replaced by Kaushik Khona as GoAir’s new CEO. Six months after he joined GoAir from the now-defunct Jet Airways, Dube has quit the Wadia group owned carrier, which seems to be struggling the most among all airlines in the fray. “Vinay Dube has ceased to be in employment with immediate effect and hence, ceases to be the CEO of the company,” a statement from GoAir said. “The nominations and remuneration committee and the board met today and appointed Kaushik Khona as CEO with immediate effect.” Khona had earlier served as the CEO of the airline between ... Read more

The Indian government on Friday reduced port tariff by 60% to 70%, to promote domestic cruise tourism. “The decision will support the cruise industry and protect it from the adverse economic impacts due to the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Union Shipping Minister Mansukh Mandaviya. “It will provide an opportunity for the country to earn huge amounts of foreign exchange and generate sizable direct and indirect onshore employment in cruise tourism,” the Minister added. The port charges for a cruise ship will be $0.085 per GRT (Gross Registered Tonnage) instead of the present rate of $0.35, for the first 12 hours stay ... Read more

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has said it has formed a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to fast-track the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway project. “NHAI has proceeded to form a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) company for financing, construction and operation of the Delhi-Mumbai ‘Greenfield’ Expressway,” the company said in a statement. The SPV has been registered by the name of ‘DME Development Ltd’ and will be wholly owned by NHAI, it said. “By floating SPV specific to a corridor, the NHAI is aiming at diversifying its resource base and developing a sustainable and self-liquidating approach to raise finances,” it said. Spanning ... Read more

Prime Minister Narendra Modi while launching the ‘Transparent Taxation’ platform has announced multiple reforms to improve tax compliance, faceless assessment and ease of filing returns. As part of the overhaul, the government has also proposed to reduce the threshold of various transactions for tax disclosure. This is aimed at widening the income tax base and checking tax evasion, Moneycontrol has reported. The list will now include white good purchases, property tax payment, medical and life insurance premium and even hotel payments. So, the next time you pay a hotel bill or medical insurance premium of more than Rs 20,000, incur ... Read more

Domestic air traffic made a minor recovery in July, growing to 21.07 lakh passengers, a 6.1% increase from June, when 19.84 lakh fliers took to the air. Year-on-year, however, the traffic declined 82.3% in July.  In July 2019, 1.19 crore passengers had travelled by air. But here also there is a silver lining. The drop is lower than what was seen in June when the decline was 83.5%, year-on-year, Moneycontrol has reported. The data was released by industry regulator DGCA, on August 13. For the year till July, the industry had a total of 3.72 crore passengers, a drop of ... Read more

SpiceJet has unveiled an automated customer service and check-in facility via WhatsApp. The carrier’s customer service agent called “Ms Pepper” can be accessed by passengers at the mobile number 6000000006, SpiceJet said in a press statement. Earlier, these facilities were available in SpiceJet’s website or mobile application. “WhatsApp “Hi” to Ms Pepper on your way to the airport and she will help you with the mandatory web check-in process without the need to visit SpiceJet’s website and deliver your boarding pass directly to your mobile phone,” it stated. Moreover, the automated agent will solve customer’s queries on WhatsApp, the airline ... Read more

India’s largest crocodile park may have as little as four months before it runs out of funds to feed animals, pay staff and do research, as ticket revenue shrinks after coronavirus lockdowns choked the flow of visitors. Annual sales of about 5 million tickets usually make up roughly half the revenue of the park, located about 40 km from Chennai, but it has been shut since March 16, with no prospect of reopening in sight, says news agency Reuters. The lockdowns during the summer vacation season have cost an estimated ₹1.4 crore ($187,000) as visitors dropped by almost 2.5 million, said ... Read more

Air India has closed down five of its stations in Europe in view of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, namely Vienna, Milan, Madrid, Copenhagen and Stockholm. “In view of #COVID19, Air India (AI) has decided to close down its stations in Vienna, Milan, Madrid, Copenhagen, & Stockholm. AI would immediately initiate action for closure in consultation with local lawyers & advise the timelines by which the stations will be closed,” read a tweet from news agency ANI. According to reports, Air India is likely to cease all future flights to these countries as it was not financially viable for the airline ... Read more

The Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism & Hospitality (FAITH) has requested the Indian government to conduct India Tourism Mart (ITM) at the end of November this year. Subhash Goyal, Honorary General Secretary, FAITH interacted virtually with the Minister of Tourism,  Prahlad Singh Patel, where he proposed multi-step strategies for revival of tourism. These issues were identified to enhance tourism demand while protecting tourism supply in India. According to Goyal, ITM will help in promoting India to tour operators all over the world. “Last two years, we had 250 buyers. This year in the virtual mart, we hope to interact ... Read more